Open second story windows = nasty cat reek. Advice?

March 8, 2009 5:57 PM

Open second story windows = nasty cat reek. Advice?

Ah, the warm days of early Spring. Open up the windows to get a whiff of that sweet .... cat pee stink.

Every time we open the upstairs windows, the upstairs fills with the stench of cat urine. It's very, very strong. (The downstairs windows seem unaffected.) We thought it was caused by our own two cats spraying, but we've kept them out of those rooms and it has STILL stunk of cat pee while the windows are open. Close the windows and the smell is gone in an hour or so. Open them, and in it comes.

I thought maybe the previous owner's cat had peed on the window screens (it had sprayed lots of other places) but really, it shouldn't stink this much five years later, after all those Maryland rain storms. Besides, the screens themselves don't smell, to my nose. Regardless, I've tried dousing the screens with Mrs. Meyers cleaning solutions, to no avail.

I've sniffed on hands and knees all around the floors in those upstairs rooms, and nothing. Not even any suspicious stains. And that wouldn't explain the relationship with the windows in any case.

My next thought is, could it be something in the walls around the windowframe? Are there any insects or termites or something that produce a smell like cat pee?

Anybody else have this problem, or an idea of what might be causing it? I'd like to air our house out before selling it, but I don't think this reek is a strong potential selling point. What is causing this stench?

posted by GardenGal to home & garden (10 comments total)

Could it be "cat pee bushes" outside your windows? There are these horrible bushes all over Seattle that are not only ugly but stink to high heaven of cat piss. I have no idea what they're called, tho, but godDAMN they reek.
posted by tristeza at 6:34 PM on March 8

Just a thought: Do you have any arborvitae shrubs near the house, or have neighbors who do? I've noticed that a lot of these trees smell astoundingly like cat urine to me. I call them "cat pee bushes" for that very reason. Can't stand 'em. On hot days I can even smell them from inside my car if I'm parked near a bank of arborvitae hedges. I have four cats, and I know cat pee. It seems to be the shorter varieties that smell stronger to me.
posted by cuddles.mcsnuggy at 6:38 PM on March 8

Wow. Glad I'm not the only one who noticed this! And I'm in Wisconsin.
posted by cuddles.mcsnuggy at 6:38 PM on March 8

No bushes like that around except for one a couple houses down... but I would expect that if that were the problem, then the downstairs would also reek when the windows were opened.

Usually, all the windows are open at the same time, and it is only the upstairs that reeks. :(
posted by GardenGal at 6:46 PM on March 8

Do you have a neighbor with cats? My next door neighbor lets his dog pee on his roof deck and it stinks to high heaven. Perhaps you have a similar situation.
posted by Morpeth at 6:46 PM on March 8

Lots of neighborhood cats. You think they could be peeing on the roof?!?
posted by GardenGal at 6:50 PM on March 8

You could be inducing a chimney effect when you open the upper story windows. Warm air exits the house at the top, cool dense air infiltrates at the bottom which causes stinky air from the basement to displace upwards.
posted by electroboy at 10:08 PM on March 8

Cats pee anywhere/any roof or basement lair...
posted by Morpeth at 4:35 AM on March 9 [1 favorite]

Hmmmm electroboy, you have a good point there. No basement, but I suppose it could be coming from elsewhere.

So as far as anyone knows, no molds or insects produce this smell?
posted by GardenGal at 7:06 AM on March 9

Has any of your neighbors recently mulched their property? The service at my condo complex uses some kind of mulch that just reeks. You could be getting some kind of cross breeze from their direction.

Do you have any tree branches that are near those windows? Could a cat be spraying from the tree? You might want to try power washing (if you can) the sides of the house around these particular windows.

There are some kind of ants - we used to call them piss ants but they're also known as sugar ants - that smell like urine and are really small. Have you noticed any ants around?
posted by jaimystery at 7:38 AM on March 9